Bottle holder



June 5, 1962 J. F. BUYS 3,037,654

BOTTLE HOLDER Filed March 27, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l ZZ/ o jade r1261 F uys June 5, 1962 J. F. BUYS 3,037,654

BOTTLE HOLDER Filed March 27, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3,037,654 BOTTLE HGLDER James F. Buys, 2424 N. Sacramento Ave., Chicago, Ill. Filed Mar. 27, 1956, Ser. No. 574,207 7 Claims. (Cl. 21510tl) My invention relates to attachments for containers of the type comprising a glass or ceramic main body having a circular open mouth at one end. Such a mouth is usually, but not necessarily, of materially smaller diameter than the main portion of the container: It is defined by surfaces of revolution with the exception of small lugs or a helical rib near its upper extremity for receiving and retaining a top cover. Below the portion adapted to engage the top, with or without screw threaded engagement, there is an annular externally projecting rib commonly called the bumper roll. Below the bumper roll there is a continuation of the cylindrical exterior above the bumper roll. This continuation or neck may be of the same diameter as the cylindrical exterior'above the bumper roll, but is sometimes smaller or larger. Below the neck the integral body of the container continues downwardly, and un-ually outwardly to a larger diameter.

The configuration of the inner surface of the mouth is immaterial, but it is customarily a right cylinder, flaring out below the lower end of the neck to define the inner surface of a body wall of approximately uniform thickness.

Such containers, when used repeatedly, as by refilling them with milk or other comestibles, must be cleaned and sterilized. This is commonly done with automatic or semiautomatic washing machinery in which the open container is positioned with its mouth opening downwardly while hot cleaning fluid is forcefully sprayed into the open mouth. Because of this washing operation it is impossible to have any attachment on the bottle which would constitute a rigid or relatively unyielding projection on the bottle extending axially beyond the end of the mouth.

It will also be obvious that any carrier afiixed to such a bottle must be very dependable in its grip on the neck below the bumper roll.

If the carrier must be removed from the container for washing the container, the removal and replacement of the carrier represents an almost prohibitive labor cost, as well as a hazard if the handle is carelessly assembled after washing and the container subsequently slips out and falls and is broken.

According to the invention there is provided a permanently affixed carrier that cannot be removed without deliberate intent, and even then not without tools and distortion such that the carrier is rendered unfit for reattachment by the partial demolition necessary to remove it. All fixed parts of the structure terminate axially well short of the end of the container mouth and the carrying bale is pivoted with complete freedom to swing laterally in either direction u-p beside the neck of the bottle whenever the inverted bottle passes through a washing mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a complete container equipped with a holder attachment according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the expanded holder before it is assembled;

FIGURE 3 is a section on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a section as on line 4-4 of FIGURES 2 and 3.

FIGURE 5 is a section as on line 55 of FIGURES 2 and 3;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary diagram of one of the pivots of the ring just before final assembly; and

3,fi37,654 Patented June 5, 1962 FIGURE 7 is a similar view of the same parts after assembly is complete.

In the embodiment selected to illustrate the invention the container Iii has a mouth and neck structure including the cylindrical mouth portion 12 which may conveniently be sub-divided for purposes of description into a neck portion 14 immediately below the bumper roll 16, and a mouth portion 18. The helical thread 20 is for engagement with a screw top and forms no part of the present invention. The carrier comprises a ring made up of a first reach 22 and a second reach 24 as best indicated in FIGURE 2. Each of these reaches, prior to assembly, are of circular configuration with a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the neck they will engage when assembled and of a length such that after assembly they will each subtend substantially of the neck.

There is a permanent articulation involving the narrow elongate loop 26, see FIGURES 2 and 4, at one end of the reach 22. The proximate end of the reach 24 passes under the bight 28 of the loop 26 and then is turned upward to define a standard 30', which normally abuts the bumper roll 16 after assembly. As the standard 30 rises the wire is turned outwardly to define an eye 32 which takes into the eye 34 at the lower end of the adjacent leg 36 of a bale comprising the leg 36, a crosspiece 3'8, and the assembly leg 40'.

It will be noted upon reference to FIGURE 5 that the highest point of the eye 32 is far below the upper lip 42 of the container mouth, and that when the leg 36* swings over into a horizontal plane the eye 34 is also far below the lip 42. The extreme end of the wire defining the eye 32 comes back horizontally at 44 to form an abutment overlying the loop 26. This abutment, combined with the abutment of the reach 24 with the lower side of the bight 28, prevents relative movement of the loop as and the innerlocking end positions of the reach 24 in a vertical direction, either up or down. As viewed in FIGURE 5, if the ring does not grip the neck with material friction, all the wire parts shown could slip down on the neck 14 a maximum distance equal to about twice the distance of the wire. Such a displacement is immaterial, and it is advantageous rather than otherwise to have the ring engage the neck with friction so light that a user can easily rotate the entire carrier around the longitudinal axis of the container into any desired orientation.

At the opposite side, I provide a connection having lost motion before assembly, which can be snapped into place by an operator without the use of any tools at all. After assembly, the resilience of the parts prevents any removal short of intentional partial demolition of the structure.

The assembly hinge end of the reach 22 is turned up to define a vertical pillar 46 identical in function and extent to pillar 30 on the other side. The pillar 46 is bent outward to refine the eye 48 and the end of the wire comes back to define an abutment 50 corresponding in function to the abutment 44. The assembly end of the reach 24 is turned into a retaining triangle large enough to permit the leg 40 to pass under the crotch at 52 (see FIGURES 2 and 3), and over the return end 54 of the terminal portion 56. From the crotch 52 the wire is turned radially outward and about 15 beyond a radially outward orientation to define a cross bar 58 joined to the terminal portion 56 at the elbow 60.

It will be apparent that any member resting in the crotch 52 will be forced radially inward by the inclination of the cross bar 58 so that it will remain accurately seated at the bottom of the crotch. The leg 40 terminates in an eye 62 identical with the eye 34 and the eye 62 takes into the eye 48.

In FIGURE 2 there is indicated in dotted lines the contour of the outer periphery of the neck 14. It will be noted that the remote bights of the reaches 22 and 24 are separated by a distance about 10% greater than the diameter of the mouth While the eyes 32 and 48 are separater by a distance about 10% less. With the parts in the position of FIGURE 2 the additional peripheral dimension secured by having the scrotch 52 slide up along the leg 40 permits the user to separate the eyes 32 and 48 far enough to slip the reaches down over the bumper roll 16. The pressure of a finger tip is enough for this, and both reaches 22 and 24 fall down onto the body of the container 10 below the neck 14.

The operator now grasps the cross bar 38 and rotates it clockwise as viewed in FIGURES 6 and 7 to the approximate position of FIGURE 6. A finger tip pressing downwardly on the elbow 60 prevents the force on the handle from lifting the parts. In the position of FIG- URE 6 the crotch 52 is very close to the fulcrum between the eye 62 and the eye 48, and the force exerted by the operator on the cross bar 38 has a multiplying leverage representing a very high ratio. Mere continuation of the rotation will carry the leg 40 over to position of FIG- URE 7.

As the crotch 52 goes down below the fulcrum between the eyes 62 and 48, large forces are generated operating over extremely small displacements to tighten the reaches 22 and 24 by tension into engagement with the neck 14 and carry the eye 48 up through the assembly triangle into the assembled position of FIGURE 7. Therefore the parts snap into the position of FIGURE 7 with considerable force, while releasing the eye 62 from the strong gripping action that it endured while prying the elbow 52 past dead center position.

It will be apparent that in this assembled position eyes 62 and 34 are both completely free and unrestrained and the handle member has nothing but the force of gravity to affect its movement from contact with the body on one side of the neck to contact with the body on the other side of the neck. Therefore, as the inverted bottle is carried past moving parts of a washing machine that are positioned closed to the mouth of the bottle, the handle will swing up freely when it engages such parts and cause no obstruction.

In FIGURE 3 I have illustrated a small clearance at 64 between the neck 14 and the reach 24 and a small clearance 66 between the neck 14 and the reach 22. This clearance will usually be found because the initial curvature of the reaches before assembly was a trifle greater than that of the neck. To this extent the relatively weak strength of these reaches operating in flexure may cause the end portions of the reaches to have light friction at the neck and prevent rattling. However, experience shows that it is a simple matter to have this friction so light that the user has no difficulty in shifting the location of the ring on the neck.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and it is apparent that the vertical tension in the pillars is transmitted to the crotch 5'2 and the bight 28 and that those parts are held close against the neck 14 so that the proximate ends of the reaches get a firm bearing over the entire undersurface of the bumper roll 16 to carry the load. Under working load, the positions of the reaches midway between the reach ends may, and usually will, lie spaced radially from the neck 14 a few thousandths of an inch, and spaced axially below the bumper roll a sixteenth of an inch or so. But where the working load is transferred to the bumper roll, the pillars 30 and 46 are drawn snugly against the roll 16, and they in turn push the adjacent reach ends firmly under the bumper roll.

Others may readily adapt the invention for use under various conditions of service by employing one or more of the novel features together or equivalent thereof.

I am aware of many earlier patents and devices intended for detachable assembly, such as those disclosed in U.S. patents, 1,013,406; 1,116,290; 1,228,348;

1,424,076; 1,439,589; 1,442,741; 1,861,806; 2,288,357; 2,288,358, but as at present advised as to the apparent scope of my invention I desired to claim the following subject matter:

1. The combination with a bottle having a cylindrical neck and an annular external rib intermediate the ends of said neck, of a permanently affixed carrier attachment comprising, in combination: opposed first and second main arcuate reaches, each encircling substantially half said bottle neck below said rib; said reaches having pairs of adjacent ends lying on opposite sides of said neck; a first permanent articulation between one, first pair of ends; said first main reach having its opposite, second end bent outward and around into a first horizontal loop; said first loop having an inner side constituting a portion of said first main reach immediately adjacent-said loop, and an acute elbow at the end of said inner side adjacent said bottle neck; said second main reach having its second, opposite end bent first upward, and then outward into a second loop lying in a vertical, approximately radial plane; said second loop being small enough to pass through the widest portion of said first loop, and large enough to overlie the outer portion of said second loop when passed upward through side first loop and then drawn toward said elbow; said bottle neck being too large to permit said second loop to move to the widest portion of said second loop without at least a little distortion of the parts; Whereby said main reaches grip said bottle neck forcibly during the act of assembly, and then spring back to lie loosely on said bottle neck without gripping it; and handle means including a bail and depending legs extending down from the ends of said hail; the lower end of one leg being permanently and loosely articulated with said first pair of ends; the other leg, prior to assembly, extending first through said first loop, and having its lower end permanently loosely articulated with said second loop; whereby, when said second loop is not yet entered through said first loop, said first loop can slide part way up said second leg and permit said main reaches to separate and pass down over said rib, and subsequent rotation of said handle to the other side of said second loop forces said first loop down over said second loop and said second loop up through said first loop into resiliently locked final position, but loose on said neck.

2. A combination according to claim 1 in which each reach, in undistorted condition prior to assembly, has a radius of curvature materially less than the outer periphery of said bottle neck.

3. A combination according to claim 1, in which each said first articulation between said main reaches comprises a vertical pillar at the end of one reach; a terminal eye at the upper end of said pillar; said eye lying in a vertical plane and extending radially outward but not inward with respect to said pillar; said eye being interlinked with the lower end of the adjacent lifting leg.

4. A combination according to claim 1 in which each pillar extends down below its own terminal eye a short distance and then turns horizontal to constitute the proximate end of its reach proper; said downward extension leaving vertical offset between the lower surface of said terminal eye and the upper surface of said reach, equal to substantially the cross-sectional diameter of said reach.

5. A combination according to claim 4 in which said pillars are on different reaches.

6. A combination according to claim 1 in which the tension needed to pry said second eye into position to pass up through said first eye is too great to be attempted by the fingers of an ordinary person; and said handle leg provides a multiplying lever of high ratio for generating such tension; the ratio arriving at infinity when said first eye passes a dead center portion with respect to the fulcrum between said leg and said second eye.

7. The combination with a bottle having a cylindrical neck and an annular external rib intermediate the ends of said neck, of a permanently alfixed carrier attachment comprising, in combination: opposed first and second main arcuate reaches, each encircling substantially half said bottle neck below said rib; said reaches having pairs of adjacent ends lying on opposite sides of said neck; a first permanent articulation between one, first pair of ends; said first main reach having its opposite, second end bent outward and around into a horizontal loop; said second main reach having its second, opposite end bent first upward and then into an outwardly extending terminal lying in a vertical plane; s aid horizontal loop having a reversely inclined portion crossing horizontally under said outwardly extending terminal; and handle means permanently connected to said main reaches for picking up the assembled carrier and bottle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,013,406 Lawrence Jan. 2, 1912 1,434,594 Davis Nov. 7, 1922 1,861,806 Little et al. June 7, 1932 2,288,357 Jenkins June 30, 1942 2,288,358 Jenkins June 30, 1942 

